River Prayer

Winding past sand dunes
like shapes of a cratered moon,
the river moves and ibis stand
on stick thin legs in the grand
flow of the Nile.
Mississippi muds ooze through
headwaters overflow
down to the shrimp bayou.
Macaws call in misty dawn
awakening monkey chatter
through swamps of the Amazon.
Frothy rapids cascade past
cliffs that strain to touch the sky
above the Colorado's roar.
Out of the old growth forest
comes a gurgle of water rushing as
the Willamette appears before us.
Winding, moving, crashing,
frothing, gurgling, roaring, oozing,
the stuff on which our lives depend,
our heritage,
our kin ...
this water.